The present invention relates to a new and improved steering assembly for use in turning steerable vehicle wheels and, more specifically, to a rack and pinion steering assembly which enables a desired range of transverse movement between a rack and pinion to be easily obtained during construction of the steering assembly and to be easily checked after construction of the steering assembly.
A known rack and pinion steering assembly includes a rack which is disposed in meshing engagement with a pinion. A housing encloses the rack and pinion. A yoke presses the rack toward the pinion to obtain firm meshing engagement between teeth on the rack and teeth on the pinion. The steering assembly may be associated with a fluid motor and have a construction similar to the construction disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,276,812; 5,213,174; and 5,213,175.
During construction of a rack and pinion steering assembly, a range of transverse movement between a rack and a pinion in the steering assembly has previously been determined by screwing a yoke plug down against a yoke to press the rack against the pinion. The yoke plug is then unscrewed through a predetermined number of revolutions and locked in place.
The extent of the range of transverse movement between the rack and pinion is then checked by applying a force to the rack to move it toward the pinion and one end of its range of transverse movement. An oppositely directed force is then applied to the rack to move it away from the pinion to the opposite end of its range of transverse movement. The distance through which an end of the rack moves is measured. This distance is a function of the distance through which the rack moves transversely to the pinion at the location where the rack and pinion are disposed in meshing engagement.